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I had an open mind and high hopes going into the closed-door demo of Call of Duty: Ghosts at E3. Infinity Ward was showing off their new graphics engine, giving us a lengthy look at new canine companion Riley, and buzz from a few industry contacts pointed to a renewed focus on the PC platform. As it turns out, it’s going to take more than a dog and shiny new graphics to save Call of Duty from its continuing descent into hand-holding, outdated visuals, and uninspired gameplay.

As we sat down in one of Activision’s many theaters, an Infinity Ward developer promised the attendees a “huge leap” in visual fidelity and graphical immersion. Using in-game development tools in real time, we witnessed the inclusion of displacement mapping, which outputs realistic bumps and curves in previously flat surfaces like a rocky riverbed.

Next up was “Sub-”D,” a technique that’s been used for a while by Hollywood. Infinity Ward is now incorporating this into Call of Duty. Essentially it takes jagged, rough surfaces and smooths them into perfect curves. Crucially, as you get closer to an object the poly count increases rather than decreases, making that object look even better as opposed to muddled and blurry.

The revamped Call of Duty engine also ushers in HDR and volumetric lighting. One example of this is the brief blinding brightness you experience when emerging from a dark environment into daylight. It’s captured realistically here.

So yes, it’s a huge leap for Call of Duty, but still underwhelming for even moderately seasoned PC users. While most demos on the E3 floor were shown off using high-end PC hardware from Origin and MAINGEAR, the Ghosts demo was running on “next-gen spec,” a definition for which I couldn’t obtain, or the PR team was unable to give. My guess is that it was a PC built to the specifications of an Xbox One.

At one point during the demonstration, the developers called our attention to a weapon’s scope, asking us to see how it was now perfectly round. These are not next-gen features but rather long overdue ones, and basic effects we should expect across the board on next-gen consoles. Effects that are old hat for PC enthusiasts.

The Problem With Riley

Riley will end up being a vehicle for emotional storytelling, rather than a useful gameplay mechanic

The dev team then transitioned into a real-time gameplay demo. Set in the ruined remains of San Diego, the level affords a perfect opportunity to use your new canine companion Riley, who’s equipped with a battle vest sporting some cool features. A collar with positional vibrations can tell Riley to turn left or right during stealthier segments. A telescoping camera equipped on his back can be utilized for remote recon. And a specialized earpiece can be used by the handler to issue special orders to Riley.

While it’s awesome that Infinity Ward has based these gadgets on real-world tech, the actual takeaway is unremarkable. We watch our hero crouched in tall grass, issuing Riley a takedown order for the point man in an approaching enemy squad. The remaining enemy is executed by the protagonist’s brother. This action could simply be replaced by you shooting the first guard in the head, or coordinating a joint assassination effort like we’ve seen in previous, stealth-based Call of Duty missions. Call me crazy, but it seems more logical to maintain a low profile with a silencer rather than a barking dog, complete with jangling accessories.

Later Riley is used to scout a location, but this reconnaissance could be obtained just as easily with aerial surveillance, thermal imaging, drones, or any number of other gadgets. Then there’s the “use Riley as a distraction” mechanic, easily duplicated by something as simple as a well-placed rock (Far Cry 3). My point is that Riley is being promoted as this breakthrough feature; he’s not. Rather he’s a re-skinned delivery mechanism for features we’ve already seen.

Speaking of skin and appearances, Riley already looks last-gen compared to the flowing mane and realistically shifting fur of wolves in The Witcher 3. Riley has a single texture map for his fur; no independently moving hair to speak of.

Walk, Shoot, Breach, Repeat

The majority of the three levels shown to the E3 press involved typical Call of Duty fare. Slowly approaching a location, engaging in a slow-mo breach, and participating in firefights with what seems like completely braindead resistance. A deluge of scripted events and hand-holding remains the norm for Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Some thoughtful touches like decreased bullet velocity while underwater do improve the immersion, but the single player component of Ghosts seems to find Infinity Ward unable to innovate. Whether that’s a symptom of stagnation or simply a response to what their audience wants is another question. But it’s becoming clear that, at least on the next-gen consoles, Call of Duty will be playing catch-up to superior shooters like ARMA 3 and the upcoming Destiny from Bungie.

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I can’t wait for the dog to be caught in an explosion, with many exclamations from the protagonists, only for him to safely bound out the rubble seconds later, bad guys head in his mouth, tail wagging…

They still have time. Its still in early stages. All the games in E3 were in early stages and still have months to improve on gameplay and graphic quality. It may come to be pretty nice. Everybody expect it to look like Battlefield 4. But BF always had better looks than COD. Ghosts still look better than all the other COD’s though. I’m excited for my copy!

I must admit you hit the nail on the head with this article. Bravo! I would even call this article a massive understatement to be candid. I formerly worshiped the CoD God myself… meaning I used to be like many current loyal, yet ignorant Call of Duty fans… brainwashed, prejudiced, ignorant and loyal to a brand name that does anything but invest large capital in the product for the fan base that creates their wealth. The Call of Duty empire makes hundreds of millions each year, yet they have used the same tweaked/upgraded ID Tech engine for almost a decade and who knows how many titles that does not do a fraction of what many other competitive engines are capable of in other FPS games today.

CoD boasts about their ability to turn round surfaces into texture… fish that move as you swim… and small parts of a maps that will change and be interactive… oh and a dog… lol, as if these are new concepts in the gaming community. LMAO. In fact we should be laughing our asses of (pardon me). The competing Battlefield franchise (as an example) had all of these concepts in use two titles/4 years ago.

This CoD engine is still is not capable of simple dynamics such as realistic sun lighting, shadows, dust particles, weather patterns, destruction, vehicles and many other things that make an FPS “believable” that you are really there immersed in the action, not just an easy, low skill level, cartoony kiddie game for those who are into the lone wolf, selfish style of game play where teamwork, communication and strategy are definitely not required at all! lol

The reason CoD did not and will never show or release multiplayer during the same time that Battlefield at E3 should be quite obvious. They will be embarrassed lol.

To see what a cutting edge top notch graphics engine running a Military FPS, go to www.battlefield.com ;>)

Apples and oranges. CoD is short rounds of arcade style fun. BF is about team work and manuevering over longer periods more so than actual combat.

Both are great at what they do when they’re programmed by literate developers. But the comparison is void. Just because they both have guns and soldiers doesn’t mean they are the same thing or even really similar at all.

I love how everyone dis COD but the reality is that it is a different genre of FPS if every fps was the same with a different “skin” then you would all be saying the same thing about the other games ppl play cod because it’s fun.

People “dis” Call of Duty because under the vile claw of Activision several studios worth of developers have botched code and reused ancient game engines LONG past their shelf life for the sake of some corporate suite’s new ivory backscratcher for too many years.

There is a good game in there. It’s just buried under the consequences of big-publisher greed.

The trick is…who buys a Call of Duty title for the single player? Single player campaigns are nothing but tack on in the modern iterations of this series, and this is by design. Why would IW put serious effort into a mode probably as few as half the fans of this series will ever play, let alone finish?

Show me the multiplayer. CoD is about arcade style, quick rounds of multiplayer fun. Is it demonstrably broken the way BOII was in terms of lag compensation and programing bloat? Who cares if the scope is perfectly round? You’re looking for your target, not at the “metal” binding of your scope. You don’t have time to stare at the pretty sun glare when you’re being stalked. That’s for JRPGs.

COD: Ghost graphics are terrible…they flat out suck. The graphics are so bad people come off as really blurry. No dust particles. My sister and law saw the game and asked if I was playing XBOX( as in the first XBOX). Not to mention COD puts all its time in online gameplay it barely touches the story mode. Also they only put three game in hardcore mode (AGAIN!) I hate Core it is cartoony and fake. It is for little kids!